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You may have noticed lately if your someone who looks at the classified section of the newspaper, that there are a lot of people who've placed ads for buying coins and precious metals. I myself buy them, but as an auctioneer, I've been buying them for years, not just the last 6 months.
As with almost any collectible, you couldn't fit everything there is to know in one book, never mind a 30 minute show, but I'll address some of the most important techniques and tips for buying and selling coins, and precious metals. So let's get right to it.
Those of you who've listened to past episodes know I'm big on principles and rules of thumb as these are things you can apply to a large and various group of situations. It would do very few of you any good to address a specific coin minting error or the value of coin X, but many will benefit from knowing things like 'overall, US coins are the best coins to invest in' at least for US citizens. None of there rules and principles will apply to every situation, that would be impossible, so take what you need and throw away what you don't, or put it on the back burner for now.
First know that there is a very specific grading system for coins, BUT that grading system is subject to human opinion. Now with certain coins the difference of one grade jump can mean thousands of dollars, so make sure a coin or coin lot your interested in investing in is not over graded, or if it is, make sure you can buy for the price you feel it's true grade reflects. On the other hand, a sharp collector or dealer can make some serious money by purchasing coins that are under graded.
I've posted a free online visual coin grading guide which you can access by clicking here.
That grading guide follows the standards of the ANA or the American Numismatic Association.
Back to US coins. For the most part if your a US resident, or have a good US market, you'll find US coins are the best sellers. Foreign coins can be a good investment but the market for them is often complicated and changes faster than their Government and/or Regimes. If you don't know your Foreign coins and a batch is offered to you, buy them by the pound, cheap.
Learn what's popular in the US coin market as far as what's commonly available. Sure, a late 1800s Gold Eagle coin will command a great price, but how available to you are they? I like silver US coins because they are readily available. Peace Dollars are very popular among collectors and have been for quite a while now, so are Silver Kennedy Halves, 1964 & 64d.
I also like Silver quarters and dimes up to 1964 as the market often pays a premium on anything with silver content when the value of silver goes up. Silver goes up under different circumstances, but it always goes up when the economy hits bad times, as does gold. Often a coin will have a collector value that is outweighed by the silver content value when the price for silver is high. To invest in this kind of market one needs only to keep track of the spot prices of silver, run an adequate amount of "buy" ads in viable markets, and have the cash to invest and the knowledge on how to buy right. Always stick to the tried and true motto, "well bought is half sold".
As of today, June 20th, 2008 the spot prices for Silver opened at $17.67 per troy oz. and the spot price for a troy oz. of gold is at $906.10!
Bookmark this page in order to have instant access to the below useful current spot price ticker for precious metals.
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America also has a penchant for Buffalo Nickels. While I didn't want to get into too many specifics, one of the more popular error coins is the 1937 3 legged Buffalo Nickel. This error results in the absence of the right front leg of the animal. Now if you find an MS-65 grade of this coin it's worth in the neighborhood of $30,000, one grade down at MS-63 would be less than half of that! Beware, there are counterfeits of this coin that were made by filing off the front leg. The original error is the result of a faulty repair to the dye setup.
Another long time favorite of American coin collector's is the Indian Head penny. Don't let the denomination of this coin fool you, some of them can be quite valuable. There are several variations of this coin's design. It first came into circulation in 1859 and there were 36,400,000 of them minted. In 1860, a shield was added on the back at the top of the wreath. In 1864 they were made of Bronze and Copper. After 1864 they were all made of Bronze.
If your just now considering buying coins and precious metals for resale you may want to check out episode 5 of my online radio show, "The Auctionwally Show" ep.5 Buying Lots and Collections. While it doesn't deal specifically with coin purchases, there are some good tips there for buying collections of any type at prices which you can make a profit.
Other ways to find great deals on coins are from liquidators and people who sell wholesale such as auctioneers that buy in big lots. I myself do this and start all my auctions low and NEVER have a reserve. I in fact, have a nice collection of US silver coins up on eBay right now, all start at $4.95 with reasonable shipping fees. Click here to see those auctions. Most of them are multiple coin lots.
Coin shows can be a great way to learn about coins, but for the most part, you can expect to pay retail or close to it for anything your interested in. However, if you have time and the desire to attend a show, I highly recommend them, dealers are friendly and willing to educate, the networking aspects are tremendous and who knows, you just may find a great coin that's under graded.
For a schedule of major US coin shows, click here.
Selling:
If you've purchased your coins as an investment your eventually going to want to liquidate them. With all the buyers claiming to pay the highest prices, who can you believe?
Well, this is a somewhat deceptive and complicated statement. You have to know it's untrue in some sense because if the buyer is a re-seller and they are going to sell the coin at a profit, then isn't the person they're selling it to paying a higher price? What they really mean is that they pay the highest dealer prices, but even then, how can they all claim to pay the highest price? The simple answer is, they can't, yet every day thousands of people respond to ads like this because this kind of advertising works. In my buy ads, I instead place the phrases like, "Quick Response, Instant Payment and Fair Prices".
To further answer the question of who will pay the most and treat you fair, I'd like to address the matter of reputation, license and bonding. In the State of MA, where I'm a licensed auctioneer, all auctioneers have to be licensed and bonded. While this isn't a guarantee that your going to get the best deal, it does assure that you have legal recourse. Another benefit is that beforehand, you can look up the license and bond of said auctioneer to find out if there are any complaints and claims against that license. ( I don't have any by the way, my MA auction license # is 2621.) Obviously your not going to check for every $2.00 coin deal, but this information can sure come in handy before selling a lifetime collection!
There are other ways to verify reputation and business practices of dealers, suffice it to say, the bigger the deal, the more homework you should do.
One of the misconceptions that I'd like to debunk here is the power of the Better Business Bureau. It's not that the BBB isn't a good organization, it's just that it's NOT a regulatory organization as many people think. Businesses that are members remain in good standing with the BBB as long as there are not a certain amount of complaints against that business, but it is a club type membership and has no regulatory power. Neither does any State Auction Associations, Appraiser's Associations even those that are certified, or nearly ANY other association or club that a business pays to be a member of!
Again, I'm not knocking or promoting any of these organizations, I just want you to realize that they really have no regulatory power.
For my money, when serious cash is being exchanged, whether your buying a large collection of gold coins, or selling the contents of an estate, I think it's safer to go with someone who is licensed, bonded and bound by State and Federal law, 'nuff said.
Is it safe to send your coins and precious metals through the mail to people who guarantee safety and satisfaction? Usually yes. Here's why: These are usually companies that have been in business for a long time, you can call them on the phone and find out where there store or operation is and the key is you have to mail your coins or valuables through the USPS and the better companies advise you to insure your contents and guarantee payment satisfaction or they ship your coins back to you and cover the cost of shipping both ways. As is mentioned above, the key is they ask you to mail the coins via USPS. Anyone running a sophisticated scam will not likely EVER use the USPS because that is a Federal offense and the penalty and prosecution rate for a Federal offense are very painful and not worth the risk. Beware of companies that ask you to use a private shipper such as DHL, Fed-Ex or UPS, this is the method the famous Craig's List scammers are using.
Before I end the show I'd just like to let you know about a few things going on with me. First I've been very busy purchasing estate contents in the last few weeks. I have collections of coins and antique tools which I'm selling on eBay. All my eBay auctions have low starting bids, reasonable shipping fees, and of course there is NEVER a reserve at my auction.
Click here if you'd like to see my current eBay offerings.
Since my last show, I've opened and online store where you can find all of my appraisal services, and eBooks. I have big plans for the store and will soon be offering antiques, collectibles and other items at wholesale prices. I also have plans to offer one on one consultation time via my store. I'll be booking a limited amount of hours a month. So if you need expert advice on how to liquidate an estate, put together a fundraising auction or just about anything else in the antiques and auction world, I'll have that service available in the store soon. The URL of the store is www.auctionwallys.com as you can see, that's only one letter away from my main website here at auctionwally.com so it's easy to remember, just add an "S" to get to my store.
I've added online chat to my site and I'm really excited about this. I am just beginning to see the possibilities with it. In addition to catching up with me in the room by chance, I going to have a set time and date where I'll definitely be there for consultation. There will be a donation box set up and users can drop something in it via PayPal. Proceeds will be split between myself and a charity. I'll have a verification of funds sent to the charity.
I've been getting a lot of sign-ups for my newsletter mailing list and will be changing the contact manager I use for this list and newsletter. It should be easier all the way around.
I was recently interviewed by Jay Berkowitz of 10goldenrules.com. That interview will be on an upcoming episode of Jay's podcast and it features tips for eBay users. Get yourself over there to leave a comment and let Jay know what you think of the show. For those of you who aren't familiar with the 10goldenrules site and podcast Jay is quite the expert on internet marketing, so much so in fact that as I write this, he is following John Donahoe at eBay Live in Chicago as a guest speaker!
I want to announce a contest. I recently wrote an eBook called "How to Sell Your Valuables in Tough Times" and that's the prize for the contest. Here's how to win.
Simply go to iTunes and leave an honest review of the Auctionwally Show, then email me that you've done so. The first three people are the next to rate the show will receive a free download of this book which sells for $9.95. You don't even have to give a positive review, just be honest as to what you think and if your one of the the next 3 people that rate the show you win the eBook.
Well I guess that about wraps it up for my first show on coins and precious metals. I realize that we've barely scratched the surface here on this amazing area of collecting and investing. It won't be my last show on the subject, I have plans to have a coin expert on the show in the future. If your such an expert and would like to be guest on the show, please contact me by email and let me know.
Don't forget, you can find The Auctionwally Show in the following ways:
iTunes
Libsyn
Blogtalkradio
The Blubrry Podcast Network
OK, I'm going to end the show with the complete version of the song I teased you with at the beginning of the show, here's Billy Bourbon with Gas Money.
Click here to find out more about this artist.Thanks for listening, I hope to get the next episode out within a couple of weeks.
I have a new weekly scheduled time slot for The Auctionwally Show, it will be live on Sunday afternoons at 2pm Eastern time.
